Dad was right to step in and break up fight

Saturday

May 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMMay 31, 2008 at 11:34 AM

I read the May 12 letter from L.J. Dean, "Officer/father's behavior unacceptable," and could not disagree more. After news stories about kids assaulting each other or adults, with no interference whatsoever, it's a good thing Columbus Police Deputy Chief Stephen Gammill stood up for his son.

I read the May 12 letter from L.J. Dean, "Officer/father's behavior unacceptable," and could not disagree more. After news stories about kids assaulting each other or adults, with no interference whatsoever, it's a good thing Columbus Police Deputy Chief Stephen Gammill stood up for his son.

These days, there is apparently no guarantee that a coach or other adult actually will step in and stop this violence. I think if any parent sat on the sidelines and watched his or her son get kicked or injured and did nothing to stop it, that parent should be reported to a child-welfare agency for neglect.

I find nothing wrong with a parent, police officer or not, pulling off a child who was beating his child in the head. According to the reports, that's all he did. What is so appalling about this letter is that Dean implies that it's OK for one child to beat another child senseless as long as no adults interfere. How long, exactly, is it OK for a teenage boy to hit another boy in the head before it's "too long" and should be stopped? As a parent of teenage boys, I vote for one second.

Also clearly implied is that regardless of the violence a child initiates toward another child, he should not be stopped unless it is by his own parents. That's ridiculous and idiotic. First and foremost, a child who does something like that is unlikely to have a parent who would stop him. Otherwise, he wouldn't do it in the first place.

I have to say that I don't really care how the officer made the other parents feel. I don't really care if their feelings were hurt, or if they were outraged that someone actually stopped their son's violence, or if they were upset that someone pulled their son off another kid. Too bad.